HARD-WORKING and humble Horsham Saints cricket club stalwart Tim Lannen was presented with the Wimmera Regional Sports Assembly Valued Volunteer award on Thursday night.
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Lannen was blown away to receive the award and said he had been honoured to be part of the Horsham Saints Cricket Club.
“I look back at all the magnificent people that we have had at the club and it continues every year,” he said.
“We are breeding people who take the game to heart and want to help make the game as great it can be in our region.
“Horsham still has a great competition because in a lot of other places they are only playing one day cricket.”
Lannen has filled a variety of roles at the Saints over the years including president, coach, treasurer and mentor despite only ever playing a handful of games for the club as a fill-in.
He thanked his family for all their support in his time at the club.
“If it wasn’t for them I might not have come down here,” he said.
Current club president Glenn Carroll said Lannen will put his hand up to do anything that is needed at the club.
“If you need a sausage cooked then he will be the one to do it and he’s always selling raffle tickets,” he said.
“He just loves the club and supporting the team on and off the field.”
Lannen was also instrumental in ensuring the club’s survival in the early 2000s when possible mergers were tabled.
“There’s been so many great people at the club,” he said.
“Clint King was president of the club when I came along and he had kept things going even when we had really struggled.
“We were able to build on that to be where we are today, which is one of the strongest clubs in the region in terms of numbers and what we contribute.”
Carroll said Lannen had reinvigorated the club’s junior program when he first arrived.
“Those that have come after if have built on what he set up,” Carroll said.
“What he has done around the club is so highly valued and to top it all off he is just a good bloke.”
The club has since gone from strength to strength in order to field four senior teams as well as consistently fielding teams in all the Horsham Cricket Association junior age groups.
His has acted as the club’s curator, taking care of the Coughlin Park turf wicket since it was first installed in 2013.
He can often be seen putting in long hours patiently tending to the precious patch of turf that players look forward to playing on each and every week.
“That’s his pride and joy,” Carroll said. “He proudly told me it was by far the most-used wicket in the area last season.”
Regional sports assembly executive officer David Berry said Lannen was a standout nomination in the running for the 2017 award.
“It’s people like Tim that don’t ask for anything as volunteers but are worthy recipients of this award and are the reason why this award is offered by the Sports Assembly each year,” Berry said.